The wandering Swordsmen
by Maki-K
Summary: As a young boy, known as Namikaze Naruto, who by a chance had been gifted the opportunity to change his destiny wanders across the Land to protect the ones in need and meet new comrades, the darkness of the world will rise once again and try to overwhelm the world. With this all going on, how will Naruto fit in the middle of it all? Very AU world, more information inside!
1. Chapter 1

**Yo, it's me again. A few days ago an idea for a new story formed inside my head and after some thinking, I decided to give it a try. The plot and world will be a large AU and while there might be a bit of the canon, most of the story will be made by me.**

**Now, because I don't want you all to waste time reading something that you won't like, I decided to write a quick list of what will and won't happen in this story.**

**What will happen:  
****-Naruto will be strong, but his power will come with time  
****-A single pairing, with who and when, I don't know, but it will happen. It won't be NaruHina, NaruSaku or Yaoi  
****-Many characters from the Canon and fillers, as well as characters, creatures, and places from a few different animes/mangas/books  
****-Technology will stay relatively on the same level. It won't happen that for example, Kumo will start inventing tv's while Konoha will have a fleet of battleships and airplanes already  
****-some grammatical mistakes (I will try to correct as much of them as possible)**

**What will not happen:  
****-Harems  
****-Sudden powerups  
****-Miracles like being brought from death, because your friends believed in you  
-bashings, simply because I suck at them  
**

**Alright, I think that is all I wanted to say, hopefully, someone will bother reading this or this story at all.**

* * *

**Chapter 1**

In a small village in the Great Fire country, a small Ramen stand was bustling with activity. Behind the counter of the said stand, stood a young boy, who was taking orders from the customers and delivering their food.

The boy looked to be about ten years old, with spiky blond hair, angular face and mesmerizing blue eyes. He wore simple brown pants and a white shirt over which he had an apron, while on his feet were only white tabi-socks.

Behind the counter was also a small kitchen in which a beautiful, red-haired woman was cooking the delicious dish. Her face, like the blond boy's, was angular in shape, but her eye color was deep purple.

She wore a simple green dress under a white apron. Like the boy, she was wearing simple tabi-socks, red. Although the woman looked rather young and many people would make the mistake of thinking she was in her twenties, the woman was in her early thirties.

Those two were Namikaze Naruto and Namikaze Kushina, the two owners of the famous 'Namikaze Ramen' which was told to make the best Ramen in the whole province.

Ever since he could remember, Naruto always had spent his time helping his mother around the stand, since his father worked all day at the timber to earn more money.

But that didn't bother the blond boy. He liked helping his mother in every way he could, of course, spending the whole day at the ramen bar had also its good points. He got to chat with many travelers, who told him about their adventures around their country while eating the best Ramen he ever tasted.

Maybe because this was the only Ramen he ever tasted.

While working at their stand, the blond was also educated by his mother, since the schools in the country were only available for rich and nobles. She told him that it wasn't always so, but it all changes after the second Shinobi War.

And speaking of the devil. "Naru-chan, tell me what happened after the Second Great Shinobi War," Kushina asked when she saw that no new orders were coming and her son had a break.

The blond sat on a chair and tried to remember what his mother had taught him. "After the Second Shinobi War, the Ninja Villages were very weak because of how many of their Shinobi died. The Daimyos of all five great nations had used this opportunity to get the absolute power of their countries," The blond recited what his mother had taught him some time ago.

"And how exactly had they done it?" Kushina asked while serving a customer a bowl of Pork Ramen. Taking a seat, she looked at the young blond boy who tried to remember anything.

After a few moments, his eyes lit up. "They used their Army of Samurai to attack the Hidden Villages," Naruto answered with a grin. Kushina waited for a second, looking if her son would continue, but not.

"Yes, they did so, but you also have to remember that to defeat the Hidden Villages, the Daimyo's had to not only use their whole armies but also legions mercenaries they had hired," Kushina explained, getting a nod from Naruto.

"What happened after this?" the blue-eyed boy asked and Kushina checked if there were any new customers. Usually, at this time their stand would be overflowing with customers, but today the traffic was low.

"Well, I am not sure how it went in the other nations, but here, the Fire Daimyo had brought with him his best five Samurai. They were masters of the blades, merciless for the enemies of their daimyo and loyal to the Fire Daimyo," Kushina started her lecture and smiled when she saw the amazing look in Naruto's eyes.

"While it may not be a well-known fact, the Fire Daimyo was once a powerful Samurai himself, as each of his predecessors. Together with his best five, they lead the attack on Konohagakure, the Hidden Leaf Village, the place where all Ninjas from Konoha trained and lived in. While the army fought against the Ninja of Konoha, the six strongest Samurai faced against the Village's Leader, the Sandaime Hokage. The fight between the seven was long and destructive, a testimony to this is the destroyed Hokage monument. The freshly made head of Sandaime Hokage was destroyed while half of the Nindaime's face had crumbled down.

After the battle, the five Daimyo took over their countries, destroying Hidden Villages and becoming the absolute ruler of the nations. That is until the Daimyo from Land of Iron challenged these five to a battle. The winner would become the emperor, ruling over the other five Daimyo who would become his Vassals. The five Daimyo accepted, thinking that no one could defeat them, but their arrogance was their downfall. The Daimyo from Land of Iron, Ashikaga Takauji, defeated them all and became the first Emperor of the Elemental Nations.

His first act as the ruler was to build a complete new Capital. He took a part of the Land of Fire bordering with Land of Iron and built something that has never been seen in the elemental nations. In the middle of the city is a huge Castle, some say that it is unpenetrable, surrounded by a large district of powerful and rich people. On the outskirt of the city is large are where poorer people live, full of traders and shops. After having built the city, he named it Kyoto, the new Capital of the empire of Japan.

It is unknown what happened with the Ninjas of Konoha. Some say they all have been wiped out, but only a few believe that. What probably happened is that when the Sandaime had seen they were losing, he ordered a retreat and the Ninjas had scattered around the Fire Nation. From time to time there are whispers about wandering swordsman who accepts tasks for money. They are very familiar in this aspect with Ninjas, as they only did missions for people who hired them," Kushina said smiling, seeing the excited expression on Naruto's face.

"Those swordsmen must be amazing if they can complete every task given to them. Do you think we will meet one of them someday?" The blond boy asked with excitement shining in his eyes, making Kushina chuckle.

"Well, I would be surprised if none of them would come here to try the best Ramen in the world!" Kushina exclaimed with a big grin while pumping her fist in the air, making the nearby customers chuckle.

The woman's attention turned to the entrance when she heard someone enter their stand and smiled seeing who it was. The person who entered looked exactly like an older version of Naruto, with spiky blond hair and sharp blue eyes, but was taller and older than the ten-year-old boy.

The man sat down on a free chair with an exaggerated sigh and let his face hit the counter. Kushina walked over to the blond man, placing a bowl of Ramen in front of him with a smile.

As soon as he smelled the aroma of the dish, he lifted his head and started eating the Ramen faster than even Naruto. As soon as he finished this first bowl, Naruto came and gave him another one, while taking the one he finished away to wash it.

Kushina sat down in front of the man and asked. "Another hard day, Minato-kun?" The man could only sigh as he stretched his back, making it pop.

"Yeah, Izumo and Kotetsu got sick, so someone had to work for them," Namikaze Minato exclaimed with a childish pout, not fitting his age. The man worked at a lumberjack and since they lived in a country full of forests, they had a lot of work to do.

The Fire Daimyo had ordered for Lumberjacks to be build all around the country, so he could profit from their vast forests by selling the wood the nearby nations that needed wood, like the Land of Wind and Land of Stone. One is a desert with no water source of plants, while the other was a terrain of stones and mountains, no plants or forests there as well.

As the two chatted and Naruto did some menial tasks in the kitchen, like washing bowls or sweeping the floor, another person entered the stand and took the last place, at the very edge of the stand. The person entered and sat down so silently, that neither Naruto or Kushina heard him, so when the two heard a cough from where they knew no one was sitting, they were caught by surprise.

Turning around, Naruto looked at the person that stealthily entered the stand and walked over to the person. He was a man in his early twenties, with a youthful face and was rather tall. He had aqua green eyes and spiky raven black hair that went down to his eyebrows.

The person was wearing a white, long-sleeved shirt, which was mostly covered by a dark blue Yukata, that was kept closed by a red obi-sash. He wore baggy, dark blue pants that were taped in from his middle-shin down to his ankle. On his feet were Zori sandals and black tabi-socks. The thing that separated him from the rest of the customers was the Katana held by his obi and the red leaf-like insignia on his Yukata, where his heart is.

Naruto walked to the man and even though he felt slightly worried over the Katana since only bandits and Samurai carried one, he welcomed the man with a smile. "Welcome to Namikaze's Ramen, can I take your order, sir?" The blond's question was met with a friendly smile from the customer who nodded and ordered his dish.

"One Miso Ramen coming right away," Naruto said and went to prepare everything, so Kushina could do her magic, but even as he prepared the ingredients, he couldn't help but look at the man from the corner of his eye. Shrugging the weird feeling, he went back to work.

As Naruto worker around the kitchen with Kushina, the man looked at the boy with sligh interest visible in his eye. The boy reminded the man of himself when he was a young boy, it was a weird feeling.

A few minutes after the man entered, another person barged in the stand. The newcomer was panting and fear was visible on his face as he looked at the older blond. "Minato! The bandits, they are coming here!" The man shouted, grabbing said man's shoulders and looking into his eyes.

"Teuchi, don't worry so much," Minato said and placed his hand on the black-haired man's shoulder, trying his best to calm him down. "The Militia will handle them, they are trained to protect our Village, remember?" The man asked and a felt a pit in his stomach when Teuchi shook his head.

"I saw it, they were killed, there are about twenty of them! All of them are armed with swords and axes!" As soon as those words left his mouth, the whole stand erupted in cries of fear and disbelieve.

"I-Impossible! That's not-!" Kushina's voice was cut off by a cry for help on the street. Instantly, Minato grabbed the ax he has brought with him from his job, while Kushina gave Teuchi her sharpest knife, which was as long as Teuchi's forearm. The two adults looked at each other and with a nod they and rushed out of the stand.

On the street they saw five bandits harassing women, destroying windows and killing everyone that tried to oppose them. Teuchi's ears picked up sounds from different streets but tuned them out, first he needed to take care of those five.

One of the bandits saw them and pointed at them with his club while shouting. "Look, boys, some more idiots want to try their luck!" The other bandits looked to where he was pointing and grinned seeing the nervous visages of Teuchi and Minato.

"HA! Die you idiot!" one of the bandits shouted and ran at the two, swinging his ax at Minato and Teuchi. In a show of great reflex and physical strength, Minato caught the handle of the ax with murderous eyes.

"Teuchi!" He shouted and the man nodded while stabbing the knife at the man, faster than the bandit predicted, resulting in the large knife stabbing him in his left lung. The bandit coughed up blood, as his grip on the ax started to decrease and the grin vanished from his face. The man fell to his knees and Teuchi took his ax.

"Those bastards killed Kishi!" The first bandit shouted and the four remaining bandits rushed at the two adults. Minato gripped his ax tighter as the first bandit swung his sword at him. Minato ducked under the attack and tried to cut the man with his ax, but his opponent stepped back.

The attack left Minato open for an attack, which came in the form of a wooden club hitting him square in the chest. The blond gasped when he felt something crack in his ribcage, causing him to fall to his knees and hold his chest.

"Minato!" Teuchi shouted as he saw his friend fall. The second of his distraction was fatal as another bandit hit him in his temple with the pommel of his sword. Teuchi followed his friend to the ground, his vision swimming and with no feeling of his limps whatsoever.

"Well, well, well, not so tough now, eh?" The one with club asked as he kicked Minato in the chest again, making the man cry out in pain and clutch his chest tighter. "Have you ever seen your friend being killed? No? Well, there is always the first time," The bandits said to Minato, who glared at him. Turning to another one he said. "Lift him," The man ordered and soon Teuchi found himself being held on his knees by a bandit.

While this was happening, Minato couldn't do anything but watch on helplessly, since the pain in his ribs made it almost impossible to move and a bandit was pinning him down to the ground.

The boss of the bandits took a sword from one of his friends and unsheathed it, preparing the blade to cut Teuchi's head off. "Any last words?" the man asked with a smirk, seeing that the person he was about to kill was almost unconscious. He lifted the sword and Minato felt as if the time has stopped while the bandit was bringing the sword down.

The customer with a Katana was racing through the streets of the Village, cutting down the bandits that had started to kill random citizens. The black-haired man took a deep breath and turned to where the last five bandits were fighting.

As he entered the street he saw the bandits raise the sword high in the sky, about to kill Teuchi. His eyes widened as he rushed forward as fast as he could. For a moment he felt he would be able to save the man, but with the sudden speed the sword was being brought down, he knew there was no time.

The sound of flesh being cut was heard on the street, as Minato watched with sadness, anger, and guilt as Teuchi's head fell on the ground, followed by his body. Not a second later, he heard cries of pain, the sound of liquid hitting ground and the pressure was lifted from his back.

Pushing himself up, ignoring the burning in his chest, he looked to see what happened. His eyes widened when he witnessed the customer from before cut down the last bandit and sheath his sword.

The black-haired man moved to help Minato stand up and help the man to walk to the Ramen stand. The adult blond sat down and not a moment later Kushina was holding packs of ice to his chest, while Naruto hugged his arm with tears in his eyes.

"Thanks for the help," Minato muttered with a sigh, making the man nod and sit down. "If you don't ask we asking, what is your name?" he asked, the attention of Naruto and Kushina also turning to the black-haired man.

"My name is Shiba Kaien," The man introduced himself and Minato nodded.

"Shiba-san, can you make me a favor and burry Teuchi's body?"

Kaien smiled sadly at the blond and shook his head. "I am sorry, but a young girl with brown hair and an older woman had taken the body," Minato nodded and wiped a single tear that formed in his eye.

"I see, that's good,"

As the four people sat in the stand, none of them saw or felt the presence on the rooftop in front of the stand. Right there, stood a short person in full black clothes, watching those four. _'Interesting, I think it's time to report that the gossips are true, another Leaf Swordsman has been spotted,' _The person thought before disappearing in a gust of leaves.

* * *

_Three days later_

Naruto and Kaien were sitting looking at each other on a clearing on the outskirt of the Village. Since the bandits attack, Minato and Kushina had offered the black-haired man to stay with them for some time.

In those three days, Naruto had started to look up to Kaien, the man became his idol. The reason is simple, the man told them that he was one of the wandering Swordsmen and had told the young blond some of his missions.

From then, Naruto wanted to become like Kaien, he wanted to help others, just like Kaien did with his family and Village. With this in mind, Naruto begged Kaien to teach him and take him as an apprentice.

After some begging for Kaien to accept him and begging his parents to let him, the idea was accepted and the two would head out from the Village today after Kaien would see if the blond has the aptitude for a Katana.

"Well, I would be lying if I would say that I am not impressed. You have a talent for the Katana and while that is not all that is needed to become a swordsman, with enough training and the right mindset, you might become a better than me one day," Kaien said with a big grin while ruffling Naruto's hair, who looked at the man with a grin.

"Really? Do you think I could become better than you one day?" The blond asked with excitation pouring out of his body, the biggest grin he had ever made shining on his face.

The black-haired man laughed at the excitement shown by Naruto and ruffled his hair once more. "Of course I do. I think it is time for us to head back, so you can say your goodbyes and take your things with you,"

"Ne, Kaien-Sensei, how come I haven't seen you wear a bag?" Naruto asked, looking curiously at the swordsmen who merely grinned.

"I will show you later, for now, let's head back,"

* * *

Naruto opened the door of his house, which was located in the same building as the Ramen stand his parents owned. Entering the small corridor, he took off his Zori sandals and went to the living room, which was a simple Japanese style room.

Kaien followed closely after Naruto and was worried when Naruto suddenly stopped in his tracks, right in front of the living room. His keen senses picked up the smell of blood, causing him to tense and slowly enter the dimly lit room.

As soon as he opened the sliding door, he froze on the spot. On the ground of the room was lying Kushina in a puddle of her blood with a large cut going from her left shoulder to her right hip.

His eyes scanned the room for any sign of the person who did this, but couldn't find anything. Ignoring Naruto who was still standing frozen in the entrance, he walked deeper into the room and jumped when he heard a raspy voice in one of the corners.

"Kaien... Naruto, you're back," Looking where the voice came from, they sam Minato leaning in one of the corners, holding his badly cut chest with his left hand. Instantly, Naruto was at his father's side, not a moment later followed by Kaien.

"Tou-san!" Naruto shouted, tears welling in his eyes. "What happened? Who did this?!" The blond shouted, fury overcoming his sorrow, but Minato didn't answer, instead, he smiled sadly at his only son.

"Naruto... I don't have much time left, I will die soon... but, I there is still something I need to tell you. My father... was a Ninja, one of the few... in my family. Go with Kaien, I know... you will make a great swordsman. Remember to... live a happy life, make many friends... and never forget who you are... I a sorry I couldn't protect your mother," Minato whispered as Naruto hugged him tightly, tears pouring from his eyes.

"Don't be sad... we have a gift for you... we couldn't wrap it, but... I think it will serve you right... it's in our bedroom. Goodbye, Naruto... we will... always... love you... not matter... what," Minato muttered, pouring the last of his strength to allow him to speak with his son.

Naruto couldn't hold it anymore, the boy wept loudly, his body shuddered as tears flowed down his face like waves. His still small body clutching to Minato's larger one, whishing, hoping that it was just a cruel joke and that his parents would stand up soon and eat Ramen with him. He didn't know how long he stayed in this position, crying his heart out, but a hand on his shoulder brought him back to reality.

Looking over his shoulder, he saw the blurry figure of Kaien shaking his head. "We need to bury them," The black-haired man said and Naruto nodded hesitantly. Slowly, he pulled himself away from Minato and Kaien closed the adult's eyes, making him look as if he would be sleeping. "You should go to their bedroom, I will make the graves for them,"

With another nod, the blond slowly started walking away, silently, he left the room and went to where his parents slept. When Naruto left the living room, Kaien cursed under his breath, his hands tightening into fists. _'I will avenge you, I promise,' _the man thought as he looked at the small Kanji for 'one' carved on Minato's chest.

Naruto tenderly opened the sliding door leading to his parent's bedroom and after entering, closed the door behind him. Small steps brought him to the two-person Futon, his eyes scanning what lied on the mattress.

In total, there were four different things. The first one that caught his attention was a long-sleeved, white Haori with flames-like motifs on the edges. The Haori was kept closed in front by a thin golden rope, while on the back was a red Kanji for 'Namikaze' written vertically down the back. It was long enough to go to Naruto's thighs.

The next thing was a Katana. The scabbard of the sword was pure white, with the scabbard tip and scabbard mouth being gold in color, all made out of metal. The handle was completely covered by snow-white bandages, showing only the pommel, which was colored with fiery orange, and the collar which was the same color as the pommel. The guard of the sword was in the form of a red-orange flame.

Naruto unsheathed the sword and his eyes widened at the sheer beauty of the blade. The backside of the sword was pure black with a flame pattern on the front side of the blade, which was painted in an amazing red color. The next thing he noticed was the blade collar which was the same golden color as on the scabbard. On side of the blade, just above the collar blade was a Kanji for 'Benihime', which was the name of the sword, meaning 'Crimson Princess'.

Next to the Katana was a knife, which Naruto identified as a Kunai. His father had told him that this was one of his family heirlooms, coming from his father's side, just like Benihime, which came from his mother's side.

The Kunai had three blades and the handle was thicker than a usual Kunai. On the handle of the Kunai was Kanji for 'Flying Thunder God' written vertically down. Together with the Kunai came a small scabbard so he could put it in his pocket without the fear of cutting himself.

The last thing on the bed was a new set of clothes. It consisted of Black Hakama pants, white bandages to wrap around the shins and ankles, a white long-sleeved shirt with a black Jacket closed by golden buttons. The Jacket and the same flame motive on the edges as the Haori Naruto had gotten. The last thing was a simple white belt.

Naruto wiped away the tears for getting such a great gift from his parents. Quickly shedding his clothes, he put on his new attire and noticed how everything was a perfect match when it came to size.

The white shirt he was wearing was slightly peeking out from under his Jacket's sleeves, while the Jacket was buttoned-up up. Naruto tied Benihime at his left hip while he hid the sheathed Kunai in his right pocket in his pants. In the end, he draped his Haori over his shoulders and went to pick up his traveling bag.

Shortly after retrieving his bag, the blond saw Kaien standing outside the house, in the small garden his family had owned. The man was kneeling in front of a grave, which even had a tombstone with the names and the date of his arent's death.

Silently, Naruto placed his gab down on the ground and joined Kaien. The two stayed in silence for some time, praying to whatever gods that both Minato and Kushina found peace in the afterlife.

"We should get going," naruto muttered, slightly surprising Kaien. The man nodded and with the final bow, the two had left the garden. Naruto walked through the house he had been living his whole life, knowing that he wouldn't be back for a long time, if not forever.

But he wasn't sad, his parents would want him to live a happy life and that was what he intended to do, live a happy life and make his parents proud of him. With a firm look, he nodded to himself and looked one last time at the entrance of the Ramen stand behind him.

Kaien smiled seeing Naruto's resolution, happy that the kid didn't fall into depression. The blond reminded Kaien of himself, he wasn't afraid to face something new, he wanted to make his parents proud, but most of all, he looked so cool in his new attire.

"Alright, Naruto, the first destination, Sakurai Village, known for it's beautiful Sakura trees," Kaien stated, pointing towards the rising moon.

"Ne, why do we go to this Village?"

"Becuase, even if I will train you, I still have to fulfill my mission as Leaf's swordsman,"

* * *

**That's it for the First Chapter, hope you enjoyed it. Tell me what you think of it, cuz honestly, I think it's a pretty good beginning. Of course, the person who spied on the four as well the person who killed Naruto's parents will be revelated one day, but for now, let's leave it a secret.**

**You have no idea how hard it was for me to kill these two, seeing how Minato is one of my favorites.**

**I hope the interactions were at least in some way fluently.**

**If someone is going to read this story, the next Chapter will hopefully appear soon.**

**Thanks for reading, Ja Ne!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Yo, not much to say this time, but I want to thank you all who are reading and supporting this story! Thank you for your reviews and PMs. I forgot to say it last time, the Katana Naruto has is the same that Kyojiro Rengoku from Demon Slayer has. Even though it's called Benihime, it is not a Zanpakuto, just regular Katana.**

**Once again thank you and now on with the Chapter**

* * *

**Chapter 2**

Naruto and Kaien have been traveling for the last three days, wandering from Village to Village, always staying on the main road. They have slept in inns in the Villages they had walked through, staying only for the night before heading out towards the Sakurai Village.

In those last three days, Kaien had told the young blond the history of Konoha, lectured him about the first and second Shinobi war and explained how the government operates.

At the end of the lectures, the black-haired swordsman would ask Naruto questions about the topic and every time the blond answered wrong, Kaien ordered him to do 30 push-ups, 50 crunches, and 50 squads while shouting at the kid the right answer.

As predicted, when the two arrived at an inn, Naruto didn't even shower, just went straight to bed, since his Sensei let the blond sleep only for eight hours. After they woke up and took a shower, the two ate breakfast and headed out.

Now, about two more days away from Sakurai, Kaien decided that it was time for the blond to take out his sword. After renting a room in a cheap inn, they left their things there and found a clearing next to the Village.

"Alright, Naruto. We will be staying in this Village for the next week and then we will head straight to the Sakurai Village," Kaien explained as he and Naruto started doing a light warm-up.

"Ne, Kaien-Sensei, why will we be staying here?" Naruto asked, curious as to why his Sensei didn't decide to wait the free time at their destination.

"Because we will be starting your training and Sakurai is a big Village, full of distractions allowing almost no privacy. So, we will be staying here, where I will teach you the basic stances and train your reflexes while building up your strength, speed, and stamina," the adult man said with a sadistic grin, making Naruto shiver. "Now, GIVE ME 50 PUSH-UPS!"

And so started another grueling training session, after which Naruto had barely the strength to lift himself from the ground.

The session lasted five hours and the end of it, Naruto could confirm that Kaien was a Slave-driver, but he would be lying if he said that it didn't feel good. The feeling of exhaustion confirming that you were getting better, stronger was something Naruto strived for ever since he started his training.

When Naruto managed to crawl under the shade of a tree that Kaien was sitting under, the man gave him a bento full of food. "You did good, now eat and rest. We will begin our lessons after you finished eating. The rule about wrong answers is still active, so try to remember everything,"

Hearing the blond muffle something, since he was still lying face-first on the ground, Kaien lifted Naruto's head and asked for him to repeat. "Why do we have to apply the rule? Wouldn't be it faster for me just to listen to your lecture second time?" Naruto asked.

"No, this way, you will do the exercises that you need to do to gain strength since you are still young and maybe your body will be so tired that you will remember everything said to you at the first time," the black-haired man said with a small smirk and shrug of his shoulders.

"Now, eat up, the lecture is waiting,"

Kaien began with a lecture about the hierarchy in the Land of Fire's military. From what Naruto remembered, at the top was the Daimyo, who ruled the country. The Daimyo choose five of his strongest Samurai as 'Generals'. Those five were one of the strongest in the whole country and Kaien told him that one of those Generals has the power of thousands of the regular swordsman.

Under those five Generals were five battalions of Samurai with five different ranks. The first and the most common was the private, next was the sergeant followed by Lieutenant and Captain. The highest rank, not including General, was the Major and there was only a handful of them in each Battalion.

Kaien described the differences in the appearance of the various Samurai ranks. The privates were wearing a heavy, segmented grey armor with the Land of Fire insignia on their shoulders, over their heart, and on their backs. The armor covered their shoulders, chest, stomach and lower back, upper back, lower sides, and thighs. They also wear gauntlets, shin guards, and helmets, which cover their whole face and eyes, leaving only two holes for eyes and a small hole for breathing.

Like every Samurai rank, the sergeant's armor was identical to the one of private. The only difference between those two ranks was that the sergeants' helmets had a horn on them.

Unlike the Sergeants, the Lieutenants helmet didn't have horns on them, but they were allowed to decorate their grey armor, whether it is with a different color or some kind of markings. They were allowed to do so, provided the Fire Nation insignia was visible.

The Captains were one of the three ranks who was wearing a different helmet and were also allowed to change the color of their armor. Those Samurai who reached the rank of a Captain were allowed to modify their helmet and most Captains used this opportunity to take off the face mask, revealing their faces. The Captains who didn't take the mask off was wearing a variant of the helmet where the eyes, bridge of the nose, the forehead and cheeks were left without the armor.

The Majors were easily recognized by the Haoris all of them wore and the different colors of armor. The Haori is brown, with the white insignia of the Fire Nation on the back. Most of the Majors decide to discard the mask of their helmets.

The Generals wear a red version of the armor with a white Nation of Fire insignia and are allowed to wear a Haori of their choice. The biggest difference between them and the other Samurai is the mask of their helmet. Each General has an oni-mask, which only covers the lower part of their face. Besides this, on the forehead of their helmet, each of them has a number from one to five, one being the weakest General and five the strongest.

Kaien also told Naruto that the Generals tends to leave their respective number carved on the bodies of the people they kill. The blond didn't know why he has been told this but decided to remember this information for the future.

* * *

The bright and colorful lights of the streets in Sakurai were something Naruto had never seen. The loud chatters and hordes of people simply enjoying themselves created a mood Naruto had never experienced.

He and Kaien were walking through the streets of the Sakurai in search of a free inn room. So far, they were unsuccessful, seeing as many travelers and people from this and nearby provinces came to the Village for the large festival that took place every six months. The blond couldn't remember the exact reason for the festival, but he recalled that it has to do with the Sakura trees growing in the Village.

While the two traveled from their previous location towards this Village, Kaien had told the blond about his mission. It was an easy guard mission for the night. Kaien was supposed to act as a guard of a daughter from a wealthy merchant family.

The black-haired man still had two hours before he had to meet with his contact, so he decided to find them a hotel. The man also decided that Naruto would guard the girl as well.

After another thirty minutes of searching for a free room, Kaien gave up and the place they were supposed to meet with their client. Soon, they arrived at a small bridge in the middle of a park, waiting for the client.

Finally, after another hour of waiting, the duo saw three people approaching them. From what they could see, one of them was somewhere at Naruto's hight, the next person was slightly taller than Kaien and the last was slightly smaller than Kaien.

Once the three people walked on the bridge, Kaien and Naruto saw that the smallest person was the daughter they were supposed to guard. The tallest person was a male with a sword, probably another guard for the father, who was the person slightly smaller than Kaien.

"Uzuki-san?" Kaien asked, looking at the slightly smaller man, who nodded with a smile and introduced himself.

"Yes, Uzuki Tanjiro, I presume Shiba-san?" The man asked and when Kaien nodded, the man relaxed and pointed at his daughter. "This is my daughter, Uzuki Yugao, you will be guarding her for tonight,"

The man's eyes turned towards, Naruto and suddenly, his expression got slightly more guarded, not being able to see the Konoha insignia over the blond's heart. "And who might it be, Shiba-san?" Tanjiro asked as his guard tensed slightly.

"Ah, that's my apprentice, Namikaze Naruto. You don't have to be worried over him," Kaien explained with a friendly smile and reluctantly the older Uzuki nodded and turned to his daughter.

"We will be going now, Yugao-chan. Remember, no matter what, always stay near this man, alright?" Tanjiro asked and when the purple-haired girl nodded with a smile, the man nodded to Kaien and left with his guard.

"Alright, then let's go, Uzuki-san," Kaien said with a friendly smile, which was reciprocated by the girl and the trio head the other way than Yugao's father. After some time, Naruto turned to his Sensei with a confused look.

"Kaien-Sensei, why did the man question who I was?" Naruto asked, causing Kaien to chuckle as the two followed Yugao through the filled streets of Sakurai Village.

"Well, each mercenary group has its own insignia, so their clients know if the person is a real thing. Of course, our group has their own insignia, which is the sign of Konohagakure, since most of the people in our group somehow stem from the Village, be it through their family or because they have been trained by one of ours," The black-haired man explained as the three entered a stand with sweets.

"But ever since I met you I haven't seen a single person who had a sword talking with you," Naruto stated, even more, confused.

Kaien nodded and handed the blond a stick of Dango as the trio left the stand, the purple-haired girl leading them further into the heart of the Village. "That's right because we usually don't work together. Of course, there are smaller groups of swordsmen from our organization that travel together. As in every organization, we have a leader, where did you think the missions came from?"

The rhetorical question was left unanswered they saw the Uzuki stop to watch a spectacle, where a man was throwing Kunai with pinpoint accuracy. "Of course, before one can be counted as one of us, they have to meet the leader and make him accept you as one of us, the Wandering Leafs," Kaien smiled at the shocked expression on Naruto's face as he and the rest of the crowd applauded the man, who bowed.

Soon the three were walking again through the streets, the blond and Kaien staying in silence as the blond proceeded to understand all the information he heard. After some time, he finally asked. "Are there other groups like yours?"

Kaien nodded and started the next lecture. "Yes, there are hundreds of them, most formed soon after the fall of Hidden Villages. The Ninjas who survived and escaped formed groups, but never stayed together, thinking it to be risky since the Daimyos were hunting them down. Of course, over time, mercenaries, Missing-Nins, Ninjas who weren't in any group and Samurai who fled their country starting forming small groups,"

"Of course, creating such groups is prohibited, so, they cannot go around claiming they are from this or that organization. They communicate through messenger hawk, summons, people that are loyal to them, really every way possible. Most times, the groups that are not traveling together have an insignia or something that makes them stand out. We, as we are dubbed, the wandering Leafs, have the insignia of Konoha over our hearts,"

"We use it to find out members of our group more easily, since the wandering Leafs are one of the biggest organizations, so it's hard to remember everyone, especially since new members join us on daily basis. It is also good to use when one of us is having a problem because when they find one of ours, they can request aid. Of course, there are ex-Ninjas who simply work by themselves, that's also good to remember,"

By the time he finished, Naruto was looking with a grin on his face, the more he learned about the wandering swordsmen, the more excited he became. He was just a kid and so he wasn't able to stop his excitement to think about the long, crazy and certainly dangerous adventure that lied in front of him.

"When will I be allowed to meet the leader?" Naruto asked, causing Kaien to burst out laughing. Many people around them started looking strangely at the black-haired man, while Naruto looked away with an embarrassed look on his face.

"Naruto, Naruto, you have so much to learn and you want to meet the leader already? Before any new swordsman is allowed to meet the Leader, they have to be able to strengthen and approved by their Sensei. I am sorry, but while you might have potential, you are far away from the skill-level needed to try joining us," Kaien explained, still chuckling.

"Of course I knew it, I was just wanting to hear your answer," The blond tried explaining, but Kaien didn't even listen to his pitiful excuses. "So, what's the plan after this mission?" The blond asked, once his Sensei calmed down.

"Hmm, I will request a two-year leave, most likely, it will be allowed. If yes, then during those two years I am going to teach you everything I know, so will have to learn fast, otherwise, you might not make the cut. Once this is done, I will contact the Leader, tell him of your progress. From there on, you will be on sent missions from the Leader, during which you will polish and expand your skills while gaining experience. When the Leader will think that you had enough, we will meet again and I will take you to him,"

"I won't be going with you after those two years?" A surprised Naruto asked and Kaien shook his head with a small smile.

"No, those missions are for you to gain experience. They are used so you understand that sometimes, or more like almost all the time, you will have to be able to rely only on yourself. But after you are done and seen as one of us, I wouldn't mind teaming up with you," Kaien grinned, somehow erasing Naruto's fears and doubts.

Suddenly, Naruto's grin turned into a smirk as the blond turned his face away. "Ha, as if I would need you after those trial missions. By the time I am done, I am going to be much stronger than you!" The blond exclaimed.

Kaien's face morphed into a numb shock until an idea formed in his head. The man started smiling sadistically at the blond, causing Naruto to lose his smirk and inch away. "I guess I will have to make your training much harder than I expected if you want to surpass me,"

Seeing the look in Kaien's eyes, Naruto knew he screwed up.

* * *

After the night was over and the stands started to close, the crowds disperse and light dimmed, Kaien and Naruto walked back to the bridge with Yugao, where her father and his guard waited.

After a short chat, the man handed Kaien a sack full of money and the trio departed. Naruto and Kaien trecked back to their inn, both of them were tired, but the black-haired man still had to request a two-year leave.

Naruto, on the other hand, was simply tired. He never stayed this late, even when he, his father and mother were visited by Teuchi, who was like an uncle to the blond. He got sad every time he thought about his deceased family, but the blond was sure that his parents wouldn't see him becoming a depressed child who moaned about his traumas.

This single thought was enough to make the blond smile. That's right, he had to make his parents proud and he couldn't do this by acting like some freaking emo. No! He was Namikaze Naruto, son of Namikaze Minato and Kushina and he would make them proud the way he always did things, full of motivation and with a bright smile.

In the morning, the duo ate breakfast in the peace of their room. Both of them were already packed and prepared to travel again, the only thing holding them in Sakurai was the reply from the Leader of the wandering Leafs.

The relative silent atmosphere was shattered when the two heard someone, or more exactly something knocking on the paper door, which led on the outside. Kaien stood up and walked over to where the sound was coming from and pushed the door to the side.

On the ground was standing a hawk, a messenger hawk. It also had a small scroll tied around its left leg, meaning that it was a reply message. With slight anticipation, Kaien untied the small scroll and quickly scanned its content, not noticing as the hawk flew away.

The black-haired swordsman turned towards Naruto and smirked, causing Naruto to grin. "Let's go, we have only two years and there is a lot for you to learn,"

And so, Kaien and Naruto set out form the Sakurai Village, searching a place suited for Naruto's two-year-long training.

* * *

**Alright, so that's the second chapter, this time slightly shorter. The next one should be a bit longer, hopefully. I hope you enjoyed the read, I will start on the next chapter as soon as possible.**

**Please, rate and review :)**

**Ja Ne!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Yo, the next part finally here! So, I will skip the two years of training, because I don't want you to know what he learned and cuz I'm kinda lazy but ignore the second reason.**

**As for the pairing, I might have an idea for a character and how to get her into the plot, but I am not sure when to do it. It won't be still for some time though, after all, the story just started, so let's focus on the main character and the world around him.**

**Thanks to everyone who is following, reading and reviewing, I appreciate it.**

**Now, on with the Chapter!**

* * *

**Chapter 3**

She ran.

She ran as fast as her feet could carry her. Her breathing ragged, but she had no time to stop and catch a breath, she kept on running. Her lungs burning, her muscles screaming at her to stop, the wound on her right hip leaking blood and drenching her jacket.

She tripped, almost falling, but she didn't give up, she kept on running. Every step she took, her feet left footsteps in the thick snow, making it easier for her hunters to find her.

The dim light of a torch illuminated her way through the thick forest, while the falling snow made it impossible to see further than three meters away., but even then, with those handicaps, she kept on running.

A breath of relief left her mouth as she ran on a road in the forest, next to her was a sign, pointing towards north. There it was, the closest Village, if she could make it, she would be safe.

With a small smile of hope, she started running, the light of the sun starting to illuminate her way. It seemed almost as if the gods were guiding her, telling her how close she was.

yes, once she arrived at this Village, the local militia would deal with those bandits that burned her Village and killed everyone, except for her. She even witnessed how those bastards tortured her husband and raped her 15-years old daughter, just like they did with every woman under the age of 20, not even sparing children who were 7-years old.

While this was happening, she couldn't do anything but watch them do it, along with every woman over the age of 20. But of course, they wouldn't leave them alive. They tied them to wooden beams, drenched them in alcohol and started to burn them alive one after another.

Her husband, in the last act of desperation, was able to kick his torturer in the balls and ran to her. In those three seconds he had, he ripped the rope off her, which was too weak for a grown-up man, but too strong for a woman in her early thirties.

As soon as they saw it, they jumped on him, five to be exact, and started torturing him, burning him from the inside, peel of his skins and drench it in alcool. The last words she heard him scream between this unholy cries of agony were 'run'.

And she did it and three of them followed her, but that did not matter. She would get to this Village, she would avenge her daughter, her husband, and her whole Village. They would pay, they would pay dearly and she would make sure of it.

Finally, she saw it, the outlines of a house in the distance. She knew this house very well since she frequently visited it, this was the house of a fisherman, who lived in the Village. Just a little more, just a moment and she would be there.

In the distance, just before the house, she saw a single person walking towards her. Her eyes widened as she panicked, the bandits behind her would surely kill this person if they saw them, she had to warn this person.

She started waving her hand and the person suddenly stopped. A small smile appeared on her face when the person started to run back to the Village at a much faster pace than her.

She gasped as she felt a hard hit her back, making her stumble and fall face-first into the ground. Panic gripped her heart as realization struck her, the bandits have caught up to her, she would be killed now, she wouldn't avenge her Village.

With a desperate cry, she turned around and lashed out with a wide sweep of her arm, catching one of the three bandits in his face. Surprised by the outburst, the man had no time to react and was struck by the women in the nose.

The shocking strength behind the attack caused his nose to break. Blood flowed out fo his nose as the bandits clutched his face, hoping to stop the bleeding. The woman was so surprised that she landed a hit that she didn't react in time as the man hit her with his wooden maze in the face.

With a scream, she fell to the ground again, this time with her back aching, a busted lip, and a broken nose. Her blood, as well as the bandits, stained the pure white snow on the ground.

"You're gonna pay for this, you bitch!" The bandit with the broken nose shouted as he grabbed her by her hair and lifted her, making her face him. As she looked at him, she saw how truly disgusting his and the other bandit's faces were.

"Hmm, Iguro-dono, I think we all know how she can repay for breaking your nose," another bandit supplied with a knowing look as he started to loosen his belt. The third bandit nodded with a dumb smile and followed the second bandit.

Iguro chuckled as he let go of her hair and grabbed her breasts with his bloody hand while chocking her with his other hand. "While the boss doesn't allow us to do this to the older woman, I don't think anyone will be there to tell him about this, am I right, boys?" He asked and started to rip the woman's jacket off.

The other two bandits walked closer to the woman and prepared to rape her, all of them having lecherous smiles on their faces. While they prepared ripped her shirt off, the woman couldn't do anything other but sob silently.

"Hmm, I don't think this is a good idea,"

"Tsk! If you don't want some than no one is making you do it. It means more for us," Iguro said as he took off his pants.

"No, I mean this is a very, _very_, bad idea. You see, it just happened that I hate rapers,"

Iguro scowled as he shouted, al the while taking the woman's pants off. "Listen, I don't know who you are..." His eyes widened when he realized that he didn't know whose this voice was.

Looking over his shoulder, the man's eyes widened when he was a kid, no older than twelve-years-old standing behind him. The boy glared at him with burning blue eyes and a smile, but not a friendly smile, no, a smile that you saw just a moment before death.

in the last second of his life, Iguro noticed his the boy had medium-length spiky, messy blond hair, tied in a low ponytail, while the bangs hung over his eyes. Just as his eyes took the blond boy's appearance, a black Katana with a red fire-like pattern cut off his head.

Iguro's head fell to the ground, followed by his body, while blood oozed out of his opened neck, tainting the pure snow with his disgusting blood.

The two other bandits, who were preparing themselves to rape the woman and were so engrossed with the thoughts that they would do with her body didn't notice the blond boy until Iguro fell to the ground, dead.

The two jumped away while pulling their pants up. "Who are you?!" The third bandit shouted as he took out a Tanto, his partner taking out a bow while preparing an arrow to shoot at the blond.

The woman looked up with her teary eyes and trough her blurry vision she saw the boy stand in front of her. She could easily read the Kanji for Namikaze on the white Haori which was draped over his shoulder with red fire-like design on the edges.

The blond smiled at those two with the same smile he showed Iguro. "My name is Namikaze Naruto and rest assured, you won't live long enough to hurt anyone else. I promise you, the red bladed Benihime will burn you down to the bone!" Naruto shouted with a smile as he sheathed his sword again.

"Tsk! I have no idea who you are, but there is no way I am getting killed by some kid!" The second bandit shouted as the third rushed forward.

The woman shouted at Naruto to get away, to run and bring the militia here, but the blond ignored her and calmly lowered his stance. His left hand placed on the sheath, the left thumb ready to pull the Katana out. his right hand rested lazily on the handle.

The blond's sharp eyes tracked the bandit's steps and suddenly everything was quiet, the only sound was the snow crunching under the bandit's feet. The blond counted the steps and estimated when the man would be in his striking range.

While the blond had a longer sword than the bandit, the man had longer arms, nullifying Naruto's range advantage. With this in mind, the blond gripped his Katana tightly, his left thumb pushing the tsuba, removing the sword from the scabbard.

With the same smile still on his face, Naruto took a lightning-fast step, compared to how slow the bandit moved. During this single step, he pulled his Katana out of its scabbard completely, the razor-sharp blade gleaming in the dim sunlight.

With a precise swing with the intent of cutting his opponent down, the blond made a perfectly clean slash across the bandit's throat. The man wasn't expecting Naruto to take this step forward, shortening the distance between them with such speed.

The man's eyes widened as a groan left his mouth. A jet of blood erupted from his wound, missing Naruto completely, not even a single drop of the man's filthy blood had stained the blond boy. The bandit's head fell to the side, no longer held by the muscles on his throat as he collapsed to the ground, unconscious and soon dead from blood loss.

The smile never fading from Naruto's face, the blond turned to the last bandit, who shot an arrow at the blond. Naruto easily cut it perfectly in half and continued walking towards this disgusting man.

The bandits prepared another arrow and shot it at Naruto, who simply moved his head to the side. The man started stumbling backward and fell back, just as Naruto's katana stopped an inch in front of his face.

"P-Pleas-se, I-I-I-" The bandit stuttered, fear gripping his hear.

"Shut up," Naruto commanded and the man instantly obligated. "Tell me how many of you are there and I might think about sparring your life," Naruto said with the small smile.

Hope shone in the man's eyes as he relaxed slightly. "2-23, there are 23 of us, counting me and the two you just k-killed," The bandit said and smiled when Naruto removed his Katan from the man's throat.

The bandit was about to push himself up, but the searing pain in his throat stopped him from doing this. he looked into Naruto's blue eyes and for a moment instead of an iris and pupil, the bandits saw a sea of blue flames, looking at him with anger and hatred.

"I told you that I would think about it, but I can't let you go with the sins you have committed and wanted to commit with this woman," The blond said and watched as the man tried to say something but only a wet gurgling sound came out.

Flickering the single drop of blood off his blade, the blond sheathed Benihime and turned to the woman. Looking at her, he saw that she had shoulder-length, brown hair and wide brown eyes.

She wore a simple thick, red jacket, under which the blond saw a white shirt. She had baggy black pants, a purple obi sash, white tabi socks, and Zori sandals. The Woman looked with shock at the blond twelve-year-old.

In the last two years, the only things that changed were Naruto's hight and the length of his hair. Besides this, he has grown more muscular and lost the baby-fat around his face.

The blond crouched in front of the woman and gave her a friendly smile. "Tell me, which direction is your Village?" The blond asked softly and the Woman pointed towards the woods, _'North,' _The blond concluded.

Naruto waited a few more moments and when he saw three men from the local militia run towards them, he nodded to the woman with a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, I will avenge your Village, that, I promise you on my life!"

As soon as the woman blinked in surprise, the blond swordsman vanished in the thin air. "Ma'am! Are you alright, Ma'am?" One of the men asked as he crouched by her side, the other two starting to inspect the dead bodies.

* * *

Naruto was rushing towards the north, hoping to find and kill all of the bandits before they would every person in the Village. The freezing wind and the falling snow was doing nothing to help him, but the blond still pressed on, he had a job to do.

Soon he saw a source of light in front. _'A torch,' _Picking up speed, the blond pushed all of his strength in his legs and jumped upward, higher than a civilian would ever be able to.

The only reason he was able to do it was because, in the last two years, Kaien had shown him how to mold Chakra and boost his limbs with the mystic power. Of course, following this was the grueling process of expanding hi Chakra reserves.

Dismissing those thoughts, the blond crouched on a thicker branch of a tree and overlooked the Village. the only reason he could see anything from this hight was that the numerous people burned alive enlightening the Village's main square.

The blond narrowed his eyes when he saw few bandits raping girls around his age, while others were torturing probably their fathers. Momentary naruto's grip on the scabbard of his Katan tightened, but the blond regained his emotions with a deep breath.

_'There are supposed to be 20 of them here, but I can see only 15. That's leaves 5 unaccounted and if I would have to guess, they are outside the Village perimeter,' _The blond fought against his desire to go down there and kill all of them now, knowing that he was outnumbered and had to use his mind to win this.

"Let's see, the only people I see alive are those women that are raped or are lying on the ground unconscious and those tortured men who haven't been killed or died yet," The blond muttered and placed his right hand on the hit of Benihime.

"Let's do this," Naruto said with a confident smile. Closing his eyes, the blond remembered some of the first lectures about swordsmanship taught to his by Kaien while they were on the trip.

"Your sword is your friend and your closest ally. The sword is only as useful as it's wielder lets it be. Strike to kill, otherwise, you shall die by your uncertainty. Our swords are used to protect the weak and serve justice to the one abusing their power,"

The endless pools of blue snapped open as a fire shone brightly in them. Molding his Chakra in a specific way, the blond led it toward's his sword as the air around his got hotter, much hotter.

_'Breath of the Phoenix: First form: Searing fall!' _Naruto thought inside his mind as he unsheathed his sword faster than a flash of lightning and swung it in a downward vertical slash.

When the blond molded Chakra, he particularly changed it into the Fire Natured Chakra- also known as Katon Chakra- and pushed it into his blade. Thanks to it, the red part of the blade started to shine.

The bandits who stood closest to the blond had no time to react when the shine appeared behind them. The other bandits had turned to where the light came and before they could do anything, they saw a wave of fire devour three of their comrades.

When the fire disappeared, they saw Naruto looking at them with a small grin on his face. The blond glared at them from his position at the tree and felt slightly satisfied when the first three bandits were nothing more than ash.

"Six down, seventeen left!" The blond grinned even wider and jumped down from the branch to a crouching position. For a second, everyone stood still, that is until the blond lifted his face and instead of normal irises, a frightening blue blaze could be seen in his eyes.

As soon as the bandits saw those eyes, they knew they would have to fight to stay alive. With this in mind, all of them rushed towards their weapons and the one who had the weapons on them rushed towards Naruto.

The blond saw five bandits closing on him and prepared his sword. As soon as they were close enough, the blonde stepped forward, swinging his Katana in an upward diagonal slash.

The moment his Blade started moving upwards, a fire started following the blade. The first bandit thought it was just an illusion and moved his head to the side, but shriek in agony as the fire licked his eyes.

The man stumbled back in pain and the second bandit tried to stab Naruto with a Naginata, but the blond moved his body to the side, avoiding the attack by inches.

The blond rolled back as a third bandit jumped at him with a Tanto in his right hand and tried to slash at the blond. Naruto saw the attack coming and sidestepped the attack.

The bandit's screams were heard through the Village as naruto cleanly cut off his arm and soon silenced him by beheading. The blond spun on his heel and parried as next bandit tried to stab him with a Katana.

Expertly stepping to the side, the blond avoided again the Naginata, but this time, he cut it in half and caught the severed part with his free hand. Naruto plugged the spear of the Naginata into the katana-wielding bandit's head and jumped back as a large club slammed where he previously stood.

_'One is out of the fight, eight down, fifteen left,' _ The blond counted and gripped Benihime with both his hands. In front of him stood ten bandits, each of them grinning at him, confident they would be able to kill the blond.

_'Let's see, shall we?' _ Naruto asked himself in his mind as he lowered the Katana to his right side, the blade pointing at the bandits, the Katana parallel to the ground. _'Breath of the Phoenix: Second form: Deathly beak!'_

During those two seconds, he stood still, the blond molded Chakra once again and when he felt it was ready, he thrust his sword at the advancing bandits. His blade was encased in a fire, which shot forward and hit another two bandits, burning them faster than a regular fire would, the heat of the flames evaporating the snow lingering on the ground.

As the bandits got closer, the blond sheathed his sword and started doing movements with his hands that none of the bandits recognized. After six signs, the blond took a large breath and suddenly a roaring orb of fire shot from his mouth towards the petrified bandits.

From the ones that were still alive, only three were able to react in time to jump away. but even then, they all still got burned slightly. One of them had hi's right arm burned, the other both of his legs and the last one got half of his face burned.

Seeing an opening, the blond rushed forward, unsheathing his katana in a flash, he cut the three survivors down. As their bodies fell to the ground, their blood staining what left fro the evaporated snow, the blond sheathed his Katana with a sigh.

"Alright, now for them," The blond muttered with a small smile and walked over to the bound man. Taking out his Kunai, he cut the ropes of the one's surviving and smiles as he watched them rush or limp in most cases towards the young ladies.

The lovely atmosphere was cut off when a voice all of the Villager feared by now was heard through the streets. "What the fuck happened here? Who did this?" The blond turned to where the voice came and narrowed his eyes.

There stood five people. Four of them were nothing more than little fries, but what interested Naruto was the person in the middle. He had silver, chin-length hair, small beady eyes and looked at the Villagers with a sneer.

He wore a brown thick Jacket, loose black pants, Zori sandals, and white tabi-socks. The thing that interested the blond was the Katana on the man's hip. The blond knew from the way the four bandits stood around the man that this silver-haired person was the leader, the one responsible for all this.

"I killed them," Naruto said with a friendly smile, even though the hate-filled eyes told a different story. The blond calmly walked towards the man, his white Haori ruffling with the cold air.

"YOU?" The man questioned and laughed, his lackey soon following him. "Don't make me laugh boy! But for being here, you will die. Kill him!" The silver-haired bandit ordered and the four lackeys rushed at Naruto.

The blond grinned and in a blink of an eye, cut the four down. "Are you Touji Mizuki?" The blond asked the shocked man. The silver-haired man narrowed his eyes at the blond and placed his hand on the sword.

"Depends who send you here," Mizuki asked and slowly started to unsheath his Katana. The blond smiled even wider when he saw the man prepare for a fight.

"I will assume that it means yes. Before we start our fight, you should know that even if you will defeat me-which is unlikely to happen- the wandering Leafs will still hunt you down,"

The blond prepared himself and gripped the hilt tighter. Even if he sounded and acted confident, he knew that it would be the hardest fight for him to this day. Mizuki was once upon a time an apprentice, just like him, but after three years of training, he betrayed the organization.

Of course, if an apprentice leaves the mercenary group, they are not hunted down. Bt for what Mizuki did, he was on top of their to-kill-list. The man destroyed a few Villages, in each of them raping and killing the citizen and when the man's master fought him, Mizuki killed him.

It's not that Mizuki is powerful enough to defeat a full-fledged swordsman of the wandering Leafs, no. After the silver-haired traitor was defeated, he asked for forgiveness by his master, who in those three years bonded with Mizuki like a brother.

Not being able to kill someone he has as a brother, Mizuki's master turned to leave the defeated man alone, but it was a mistake. At the moment the master turned around, Mizuki seized the opportunity to stab the man in the back.

After killing his master, Mizuki took the man's Katana and started to use it as his own. The reason the organization even got to know about this was because of a spy who saw this happening and reported to their leader.

This was also the reason Naruto was in this area. he had been tasked with eliminating this bandit group and killing Mizuki. It was his four missions since he parted his ways with kaien and started working solo.

Mizuki laughed when he heard the blond tell him about his ex-organization. "As if! If they are sending little children to kill me then surely their numbers must have been even smaller than before!" The silver-haired man shouted with a sick grin.

The blond prepared himself and took the basic stance of the breath of the phoenix. his legs were parted, his right one was in front. He held his sword sheathed, his left thumb ready to push it out, while his right hand ready to swing it.

Breath fo the Phoenix was an Iaido style, it revolved around quick and precise attacks, surprising the opponent with the speed of the attacks and the sudden closing of the distance between them. The main strength of the style was speed, which allowed the user to end the fight before it even began.

The blond waited for Mizuki to make the first move, but Naruto got a nasty surprise in the form of the silver-haired man doing the same. At least, that is what it looked like.

Naruto waited for good twenty seconds, looking at Mizuki's prone form. The man held his Katana with both his hand overhead. Finally, something happened, but that was not what the blond expected.

yellow lightning started to crackle around the silver-haired man's blade and naruto instinctively knew that Mizuki charged Raiton Chakra into his sword. With a scream, Mizuki slashed in a downward slash, followed by a large current of yellow electricity.

the attack looked like it could kill a whole Village-!

naruto's eyes widened as he remembered that the Village citizen stood a short distance behind him. Looking over his shoulder, he saw the terrified looks on their faces, too afraid of the incoming attack to move.

With a silent curse, Naruto unsheathed his Katana faster than an eye could blink and poured his Chakra into it. Holding it in a reverse grip with both his hands, the blond stabbed his blade into the ground.

For a second as the lighting got closer nothing happened. Suddenly, the ground in front of Naruto started to turn red and just a moment before the yellow current of electricity would strike him, a wall of roaring fire erected in front of him.

The wall was large enough to protect him and the people behind him. As the fire slowly died out, Naruto muttered under his breath. "Breath of the Phoenix: Fourth form: Rising Phoenix,"

As the fire vanished completely, the blond released a small sigh of relief. His eyes locked on Mizuki and saw the silver-haired man giving him an arrogant smirk. Not looking over his shoulder, the blond shouted to the Villagers. "Get out of here, you are getting in the way,"

As soon as they heard his voice, the Villagers that could jump to their feet and helped their injured comrades to get away from the battle. Wiping away the single bead of sweat from his brow, the blond grinned at the older swordsman.

"Is that all you've got? If so, I see no reason to take away your lowly life," The blond taunted with a grin and smirked internally when he saw Mizuki glare at him. The older man prepared himself to bolt forward as a maniacal grin came alive on his face.

"After I kill you, I will add your name to the list of wandering Leafs that I killed. So, would you give me your name, since I want to know the person I killed?" Mizuki asked and without waiting for an answer, rushed forward.

The sound of metal clashing was heard through the silent Village as Naruto met Mizuki in the middle fo the way and entered a deadlock, neither really trying to overpower their opponent.

"My name is Namikaze Naruto, remember the name of the person at whose you will die tonight!" The exclamation was heard in the whole Village, his killing the silence that prevailed in most parts of the Village.

* * *

Some distance away from the Village, a single person was walking through the snow-storm on the main road. The only distinguishing features were a long, white traveling cloak, hiding the person in the falling snow and the conical straw hat hiding the person's face.

If one had to guess they would say the person was slightly taller than Naruto and because of the hilt of a sword peaking through the person's cloak, one would assume they to be a swordsman.

Suddenly the person stopped when they heard a shout somewhere in the distance. Even though it was nothing more than a whisper to the person, they heard the message clean and clear.

"Namikaze Naruto, huh? That's who master told me to find," A feminine voice muttered, silenced by the howling winds. The person picked up their speed and headed towards where the voice came from.

Unaware of the new possible threat coming his way, Namikaze Naruto fought a battle to the death against the traitorous Touji Mizuki.

* * *

**And here we go! The next chapter finished. ****Tell me what do you think about it!**

**Any clues who the person in the last scene was?**

**Thanks for reading, Ja Ne!**


End file.
